


The Hundred Dresses

by Cyane



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: A LOT OF DRESS WEARING, Bullying, Crossdressing, Friendship/Love, Gen, Gender Roles, Minor Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette/Hercules Mulligan, Short & Sweet, except not really, it's just guys and gals wearing dresses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 06:49:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11641203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyane/pseuds/Cyane
Summary: Hercules loves making dresses. Lafayette loves wearing dresses. Every once in a while, there's a Charles Lee to remind everyone how shitty people can be.





	The Hundred Dresses

**Author's Note:**

> Laf is _not_ non-binary in this fic. There'll be plenty more of that later.  
>  Mullette is sort of there but it's mostly gen.
> 
> Please correct me if I get something wrong!

Sewing was always considered a 'girls thing'. 

Hercules never thought about it that way, not even when he was young. He grew up on a farm in the outskirts of Ireland, with two supportive parents that defied the normalized way. His mother was a large, brawny woman who wrestled with cows and potatoes all day, and his father was the town's finest tailor. 

Despite Hercules' name and build, it had quickly become apparent that he took after his father. 

When he turned ten, he made his first pair of trousers and sold them. By the next two years, Hercules mostly wore his own handmade clothing, sold it himself, and was already well on his way to following in his father's footsteps. He managed to get a scholarship to America in order to take up an internship.

_"Hey, granny! Make my wedding dress?"_

Hercules quickly learned that some people were less accepting of his internship than the Irish town had been. 

But then Hercules met Laf, (and Alex and John, of course) and they were the most open-minded people he'd ever known. They didn't give a flying shit if he made clothing. In fact, John had looked rather pleased and paid Hercules to custom-design him a burgundy bomber jacket.

And Laf...

Laf's eyes had widened slightly in surprise. At first, Hercules thought it wasn't a good sign, but then Laf's face lit up with a beam and he swung Hercules around by the arms, going off excitedly in French. " _Mon ami!_ You never said you _couture_! _Herc_ , this is incredible-- will you make me a dress?"

It was so similar to the taunting insult that Hercules froze for a second. But Lafayette wasn't smirking, he was grinning. 

"Of course!" Hercules sputtered out, shocked at the reaction. At the admission, Laf made a delighted noise and threw himself into Hercules, embracing him tightly.

That having been done, Hercules felt much more at ease. So what if he was a man who made clothing? Lafayette was a man who wore dresses and skirts publicly and proudly. It became a sort of obsession of his; making Laf new dresses. 

First of all, he and Lafayette had incredibly similar tastes. And besides, Hercules wasn't about to pass up the chance to have a say in Laf's wardrobe. Every time the Frenchman wore something Hercules had made, Herc felt like he was flying. 

Secondly, Laf looked incredible in the dresses. The first one- a knee-length lace-back mauve flare dress- made John choke on his coffee. Even Aaron Burr, the straightest of straight men, had to take a double take. The purple complimented Laf's dark skin beautifully, and the lace seemed to go right along with his curls. 

And his _legs_.

Hercules had to physically pry his gaze away from Laf's legs.

After Lafayette found out that Hercules made clothing, he got new dresses almost monthly. Each of them was intricately unique, varying in all sorts of colors, textures, styles and shapes. And when Hercules didn't have the time to make a whole new dress for Laf, or everyone was a bit short on money, he invited Lafayette to model them.

 

\---

 

The issues started when Laf wore a bright dandelion-yellow tent dress to class.

"I love the look," Peggy whispered to Lafayette from the adjacent seat. Laf shot her a shy smile and straightened out the hem. Hercules grinned at the interaction from the row behind the two of them. He had made the dandelion dress similar to the first Mauve one, in the way that the lace was extremely prominent, although the yellow dress was less formal. 

There was a choked sound before roaring laughter. Most of the class swung around to see who was laughing. Hercules narrowed his eyes when they fell on Charles Lee, the class asshole. And he was motioning towards Laf. 

"What the fuck are you _wearing_?" 

More than anything, Hercules felt offended, at first, because that was the dress that _he_ had made. It had taken a month, since most of his time had been spent on the internship, but it was gorgeous. Like the color had been made for Laf. 

And Charles Lee, wearing the same overpriced shades of green, had no sense of style whatsoever.

But then Hercules realized that Laf was sort of shrinking into himself, probably dying of humiliation. Herc knew that Laf was incredibly confident most of the time, but when it came to the dresses... self-conscious was a better term. 

Hercules didn't have a clear view of Lafayette's expression, but from what he could tell, Laf's arms had wrapped themselves around his waist defensively. And he hadn't said a word.

Charles Lee was still laughing his ass off. "Are you in a dress? With lace? Oh my god, you're so fucking queer-"

"-Shut the fuck up, Lee." Alexander snapped, rising from his seat. Next to him, John stood up as well, shooting Charles the coldest glare he could. 

Charles feigned surprised innocence. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that it was _be a fucking pansy day_ , let me write it down in my calendar."

Angelica was sitting the closest to Charles, and when she got out of her seat, she was already breaching his personal space. "He can wear whatever the hell he wants, Lee. Frankly, I don't know why you care so much about what Lafayette wears."

Lee just laughed harder. "You're all fucking mentally ill."

There was a loud, rough noise as Mr. Washington cleared his throat. Everyone quickly scrambled to their own seats and the room went silent. Washington's eyes raked over the room, staying on Lee for a second longer than the rest of the class.

"If you're done making a scene, Mr. Lee?"

At the quiet snickers, Charles scowled and slumped further into his seat, shaking his head.

"Good. Now, to our lesson today-"

 

\---

 

"Laf isn't going to wear a dress again," John said.

Alex looked up. "What do you mean?"

"He told me, man. He said he was going to leave the dresses for when he's alone, or not in public."

Hercules frowned. The incident at school had been that morning, first period. After the class, nobody had seen Laf for the rest of the day; apparently he had checked out early. Alex's face tightened immediately, and he got up. "That's ridiculous. Charles Lee is a bigoted asshole who can't see a foot in front of his own sexist beliefs."

John raised his hands in surrender. "Preaching to the choir, man. Laf was really shaken up about it, though."

Alex started gnawing at his knuckle. "How can we change his mind?"

They were all silent for a moment before John lit up, a malicious grin igniting on his face. "We could-"

"We're not going to beat Lee up," Hercules interrupted, fully aware of where John's thought process was leading.

"You just suck the fun out of everything." John muttered.

 

\---

 

"Hey, Laf?"

Lafayette swung around. "Oh- Herc. What is it?"

Hercules didn't miss the neatly folded dandelion dress on Laf's bed, nor did he miss the fact that Lafayette was wearing black jeans. He sighed. "Listen, Laf...?" 

"Hm?"

"You can wear whatever you want. I'm serious, whatever you feel comfortable in, you should wear. Whatever you like. If that's a dress, that's totally one-hundred percent OK. If that's jeans, that's alright too, just... don't change yourself for anyone. _Especially_ for someone like Charles Lee. You know he's just being an idiot, right?"

Laf shifted his weight imperceptibly. " _Oui_."

"And on Monday, during school, you can still wear a dress? Because it doesn't matter what Lee thinks. Or anyone, for that matter."

"Right."

For a minute, Hercules thought that Lafayette might just accept his advice, break into a smile, and agree. But Laf's shoulders were still hunched, and he still had that underlying miserable look to his expression, so Hercules knew that it wouldn't work.

Not that it mattered, though- Hercules had a plan.

 

\---

 

On Monday, the plan was set into motion. 

Laf had been uncharacteristically quiet over the weekend, and on Monday morning, he came to school in the dark jeans and a maroon shirt. Hercules couldn't deny that Lafayette looked _ravishing_ , but there was a dark green shirt dress that he'd made for Lafayette and he knew that the Frenchman would love it. The only reason for the pants was because Lee had made Laf uncomfortable wearing the dress.

And then Hercules arrived.

In a bright, chiffon, dazzling red dress. 

Honestly, dresses had never been Hercules' style. He was always a grey-tux sort of aesthetic. But if Lee was going to bash on broken gender norms... Hercules was going to break as many as he could.

Laf was already sitting at his seat in English, long legs hidden under the desk. His eyes were fixed firmly on the textbook in front of him. 

The first bell rang and students began filing in. 

When Charles saw Hercules in the dress, it was almost comical to watch his jaw drop. 

Laf finally glanced up from the book and froze when he saw Alexander.

Alex, in a simple three-quarter sleeved forest green princess. Green really was his color, Hercules thought. Besides, Herc wasn't missing the wide-eyed ogle Alexander was getting from John, who was nearly drooling.

Right- John, in the white trapeze dress. With the turtle print.

(Hercules inwardly groaned at the sight of the turtles.)

In came Eliza, in an over-exaggerated poof of blue, alongside her sisters. Peggy was in a sickly yellow-green that she somehow worked excellently. Angelica was in old-fashioned pale pink satin, a gown that reached the floor. All three of them looked rather lovely.

Others drifted in with various dresses, each striking Lee dumbfounded.

Finally, to everyone's surprise, Thomas Jefferson strutted in in a floor-length fuchsia dress with velvet. A gown, really. It was hideously gorgeous, and if he didn't look so arrogant, Hercules would have to admit that Thomas looked rather good.

The last bell rang and everyone found their seats. Onslaughts of quiet conversation drifted on as everyone wondered what Mr. Washington would do, if anything. The other half of the class waited for Charles Lee to explode. His face was nearly purple in anger.

Hercules wished he could see Laf's face, but he saw Peggy talking animatedly at him, and figured it was a good sign. 

Washington was at the back of the room, sitting behind his desk. A moment after the bell rang, he announced, "Alright, class, turn to page three-hundred and sixty-seven in your textbooks, please. Today we're talking about-"

"Sir!" 

The scandalized interruption came from Lee.

"Yes, Mr. Lee?" Mr. Washington asked with a sigh.

Charles fumbled for words. "You're not honestly going to let this stand, are you? This is completely ridiculous, they're _men_ , and this is completely against dress code-"

Mr. Washington cut him off by standing up and walking out from behind his desk. Instead of suit trousers, he was wearing a layered purple skirt. 

Lee's breath escaping him was nearly audible. 

"Page three-hundred and sixty-seven in your textbook, Mr. Lee."

Charles Lee didn't speak for the rest of the class period.

 

\---

 

As soon as the lunch bell rang, Lafayette practically crashed into Hercules with a hug.

" _Merci, mon ami,_ oh, Herc-"

"Slow down, Laf," Hercules responded, laughing as Lafayette buried his face into Herc's shoulder.

"You really didn't have to, Hercules, but thank you so much, I can't believe you did all this-"

At this point, Hercules was genuinely worried that Laf would hyperventilate. He calmly placed his hands on Laf's shoulders and pushed away a bit so they could both catch their breath. Laf took the distance to get a good look at Hercules' dress.

"It's a good color on you," Laf said. 

"Thanks. Not really my thing, but now I get why you wear 'em. They're comfortable as fuck."

Lafayette's eyes twinkled. "I feel sort of out-of-place, without a dress. Strange, isn't it? Did you see the look on Lee's face when Mr. Washington walked up? Oh my god, _merde_ , it was priceless!"

Hercules smiled back at him. "I brought you that dress I was talking about. It's in my locker. I brought it in case you wanted to join in the dress club. Peggy said the pleats on it will look amazing with your shoes."

Laf was already nodding. " _Oui, oui,_ thank you. Honestly, Herc, I have no idea what I'd do without you."

"You would wear the goddamn dress and you'd rock the goddamn dress, Laf. Besides, if you stop wearing dresses, who's going to model all of my new ones? I've got a new collection coming for my internship."

 

\---

 

The following day, Laf came to school in a dark navy, slightly mesh-y skirt. Of course it was gorgeous.

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize bc that was really sappy and horrible so there u go
> 
> Inspiration for dresses:  
> \- [ Mauve ](http://imgur.com/a/BI9zn)  
> \- [ Yellow ](http://imgur.com/a/aSlB0)  
> \- [ Herc's Red ](http://imgur.com/a/Fzxww)  
> \- [ Alex's Green ](http://imgur.com/a/FlAfn)  
> \- [ John's turtle dress ](http://imgur.com/a/UVMNh) someone gift this to me pls  
> \- [ Eliza's poof ](http://imgur.com/a/2437I)  
> \- [ Peggy's 'sickly' dress ](http://imgur.com/a/iJTQ4)  
> (which would look AMAZING on Jasmine)  
> \- [ who am I kidding it's just like Angelica's dress from the show ](http://imgur.com/a/iEb8e)  
> \- [ THIS IS JEFFERSON AND YOU KNOW IT ](http://imgur.com/a/dwwCK)


End file.
